Warriors Report: Has the matchup with the Thunder lost its luster?

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Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook (0) and Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant (35) talk each other briefly in the second half of an NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND — The Warriors wrapped up shootaround Wednesday morning in anticipation of Wednesday’s matchup against the Thunder.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the session.

Has the Thunder-Warriors matchup lost its luster?

Durant has played against the Thunder eight times since he left Oklahoma City to sign with the Warriors in 2016, beating his former team six of the eight games. Heading into his latest matchup with Oklahoma City, Durant says the matchup isn’t what it used to be.

“Not as much the first two times obviously,” Durant said. “Just knowing and spending so much time in the jersey and playing for a city and that team. We’re going to reflect and reminisce on the times you spent with those guys. But at the same time, I know how competitive they are. That stuff doesn’t matter when the ball is tipped. Those guys I know over there will come over to play.”

Kevin Durant is diplomatic following fine for on-court spat.

After getting fined $25,000 by the league “directing inappropriate language towards a fan” Tuesday, Durant seemed at peace with the reprimand Wednesday morning.

“The NBA is just doing their job,” Durant said following Wednesday’s shootaround. “Trying to clean stuff up.”

During Saturday’s 112-109 loss to the Mavericks, Durant walked over to a fan sitting courtside and yelled obscenities during a ball-stoppage. The exchange was caught on camera by another fan sitting courtside, who then put the video on the internet. On Wednesday, Durant was diplomatic in his response to the fine.

“Stuff happens,” Durant said. “I’m not saying what I said was right at all but just try to move on from it. Understanding what that’s about – the NBA is just trying to make everything clean, especially when you’re watching a game and trying to play a game. You’re trying to make that experience for both sides. So I understand it.”

This season, Durant has accumulated $33,000 in fines – which includes four technical fouls that carry an automatic fine of $2,000.

Durant isn’t worried about the Warriors’ shooting slump.

Wednesday marks the first game since the team’s TexasThreeStep road trip – when Golden State made just 18-of-77 3-pointers. Since Stephen Curry has been out of the lineup, Golden State is shooting just 45 percent from the field and have only shot better than 50 percent in a game once. Klay Thompson – Curry’s ‘Splash Brother’ – is shooting just 27 percent from 3-point range. Durant isn’t much better, making just 18 percent from 3-point range over the same stretch – which the forward attributes to his routine.

“I haven’t been making threes but I don’t think I’ve been getting a good grip on the ball or my balance hasn’t been as good as I’d want it to be,” Durant said. “Just get back to the fundamentals in my shot and start knocking them down. And hopefully, me making shots can give us energy as a team. Hopefully, Klay gets it going, Quinn [Cook] gets it going and knock down threes so it can give us energy.”

Durant also attributed the struggles to Curry’s absence and the guard’s importance to the team’s attack but is confident the Warriors can make it through as Curry – who will be re-evaluated Saturday – returns to the lineup.

“All of us are a huge part of this system,” Durant said. “The system is about misdirection, coming off of threes and shooting quick threes and catching the defense off guard with off the dribble. All of that stuff is Steph’s major skills. That’s a huge part of what we do along with Klay coming off of pin-downs and Draymond [Green] at the top making plays and us flying around on defense. On offense, that is a huge part of what we do. It’s not all we do. But it’s a huge part of what we do. Taking that aspect out, it’s unique.”

“It’s going to be totally different when you take them out,” Durant added. “That’s how potent our offense is and how different our offense is and different variables. If you take them out, we have to figure out how to play differently. The coaching staff is doing a great job trying to figure that out. Us as players are doing our best.”

Logan Murdock covers the Warriors for the Bay Area News Group. The Oakland native interned at Turner Sports and the Memphis Commercial Appeal and was a member of the Sports Journalism Institute's 2017 class.